12B*
A Call to Worship
After Epiphany 4B [Ordinary 4B] 2018
Psalm 111

God of personal intimacy and love: we come to worship and praise you.
God; who is closer to us than our breath and heart beat, we praise you.

God, our Friend and Companion: we thank you for your presence with us.
God: who travels with us guiding and blessing us, we give you our thanks.

God of mystery, who is utterly unknown: in reverent awe we come into
your gracious presence, quietly rejoicing in the miracle of your holy grace.
God: the Great Unknown, yet the Holy God whose promises we trust and
claim today; so we come to glorify and reverently worship your Holy Name. Amen.

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Psalm 111

1 Praise the LORD! I will thank the LORD with all my heart
as I meet with his godly people.
2 How amazing are the deeds of the LORD!
All who delight in him should ponder them.

3 Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty.
His righteousness never fails.
4 He causes us to remember his wonderful works.
How gracious and merciful is our LORD!
5 He gives food to those who fear him;
he always remembers his covenant.
6 He has shown his great power to his people
by giving them the lands of other nations.
7 All he does is just and good,
and all his commandments are trustworthy.
8 They are forever true, to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.
9 He has paid a full ransom for his people.
He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever.
What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!

10 Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom.
All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom.
Praise him forever!

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Prayers of Praise
After Epiphany 4B [Ordinary 4B] 2018
Psalm 111

God of personal intimacy and love: we come to worship and praise you. The wonder
and blessings of God’s love and intimacy for and with humanity as an individual; or
with a community is extraordinarily precious; and so we praise and thank our God for
this miracle of grace! Together, we cherish this relationship and praise our God that
we have this understanding that God is closer to us than our breath and heart beat;
and so we praise and glorify God’s Holy Name. We give thanks for the reliability of this
love; and so we join with the psalmist to pray: “Praise to the living God, all praise be
to his name, who was, and is, and is to be, and still the same; the one eternal God
before what now appears, the First, the Last, beyond all thought his timeless years…!”¹

God, our Friend and Companion: today, we also dare to claim this relationship with you
and we thank you for your Holy Presence with us. It is as our personal Companion and
Friend that we celebrate the way we experience this in our life and living. We praise and
thank our Glorious God for the way we are guided and blessed; and that we also know
the joy and comfort of never being alone in the dark times of life; in our struggles and times
of confusion. We give thanks for the reliability of this Holy Presence – day after day and
night after night; and so we join with the psalmist in prayer: “Praise to the living God, all
praise be to his name, who was, and is, and is to be, and still the same; the one eternal
God before what now appears, the First, the Last, beyond all thought his timeless years…!”¹

God of mystery and the Great Unknown: even as we claim you are our Companion and
Friend who is closer to us than even our physical body; in reverent awe we come into
your gracious presence, quietly rejoicing in the miracle of your holy grace. Great God of
mystery and miracle, God of intimacy and presence, and “…God of all power, and truth,
and grace, which shall from age to age endure, whose word, when heaven and earth
shall pass, remains and stands for ever sure…”² We praise your Holy Name because you
are the Holy One whose promises we trust and claim; so we come to glorify and reverently
worship your Holy Name. We join with the psalmist in prayer: “Praise to the living God, all
praise be to his name, who was, and is, and is to be, and still the same; the one eternal
God before what now appears, the First, the Last, beyond all thought his timeless years…!”¹ Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
After Epiphany 4B [Ordinary 4B] 2018
Psalm 111

Psalm 111 is another one of those acrostic Psalms, where each line, sentence or
paragraph normally began using in sequence the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.
It was often used as a tool for leading worship, or to help with memorising teachings—
with Psalm 119 is a classic example. In Psalm 111, the opening two verses are
a song of praise by the psalmist, and the last verse echoes those praises as he
delighted in God’s wisdom that was granted to him. The central verses are a song
about a very proactive God whose actions revealed the glory and majesty of God.
We are blessed with memories of God’s “…wonderful works…” and God gracious
and merciful care of us, providing food for all people who are in awe of God; we
remember God’s committed covenant relationship with God’s own people; and the
demonstrations of God’s almighty powers in granting land and a home to those whom
God had chosen. The psalmist’s song continued as he praised God by highlighting
how trustworthy and true were God’s commandments, and how when obeyed,
they add value and purpose to one’s life; and confirm that covenant relationship.



You may have noticed that when I use the word “LORD”, that it is always in capitals.
This is because for the Jewish people, the name of God was considered to be too
holy and important to be spoken, and so “LORD” was used. The reverence to God’s
Holy Name extended to the High Priest being the only person to speak God’s Holy
Name - and then only once a year! They would also never write God’s Holy Name,
so instead, they usually wrote “G-d”. You may also have noticed that I often use
“YHWH” as God’s name. There were no vowels in the ancient Hebrew language, so
when Jews come across “YHWH” - the “tetragrammaton” - that means they have used
the closest corresponding letters of a different language or alphabet; or they would
replaced G-d’s name it with “Adonai” (“LORD”) or “Hashem” (“the name”). Early German
scholars mistakenly used vowels leading to mispronunciations of “YHWH”; and used
“J” instead “Y” and “V” instead of a “W” – hence the word “Jehovah”!³ However we
speak or write “GOD” – we need always to remember to reverently use God’s name!



The psalmist summed up his song by declaring: “…What a holy, awe-inspiring name
he has..!” The concept of God’s holy name is much more than a title given to God—
it includes God’s mystery and majesty; the identity, reality and being of God; and the
known and unknown qualities of God as Creator, Parent and the great “I AM”. As we
reverently use God’s holy name, this includes the call on us as Christians to give God
priority in our life, our living, our loving and our ministry – whatever that is. The psalmist
sang: “…Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom…” That word “fear” is used
in most translations, although “respect”, “honour” and “reverence” are used a couple of
times; yet “holy awe” was never used - and this surprised me! The variation of “Praise
of the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom…” could also be appropriately used; as a
life spent praising God for all of life’s rich blessings is a life that is beautiful and wise!



1 From “Together in Song” #102 “Praise to the living God”
From the Jewish Yigdal c 13th century
Trans Max Landsberg 1845-1928; Newton Mann 1836-1926 & William Channing Gannett 1840-1923 alt.
Words are in the Public Domain

2 From “Together in Song” #567
“God of all power, and truth, and grace”
Charles Wesley 1707-88 alt.
Words are in the Public Domain

3 Internet resources

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Acknowledgements:
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

*Revised Indexing Scheme from 'Consultation on Church Union' (COCU).

I acknowledge and give heartfelt thanks for the theological help and inspiration so frequently available from the writings of Professor Walter Brueggemann and Professorial brothers Rolf and Karl Jacobson; and the resources from "The Text this Week" (Textweek).

If the Prayers and/or Meditation are used in shared worship, please provide this acknowledgement:
© 2018 Joan Stott –‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year B. Based on verses from Psalm 111.
Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au
www.thetimelesspsalms.net

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: epiphany4[4]b_2018.pdf